A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 26 Entry

After listening to Mr. Ale's words, the young man nodded and began to take notes: "The suspect confessed to tax evasion..."

Mr. Aller quickly tried to stop him: "Sir, don't rush to write it down, okay? We can still talk if it's not on paper."

The young man put down his pen, a mocking look on his face: "Mr. Aller, since you've said that, then show some sincerity."

"Sir, I can contribute to the defense of the Empire on behalf of our Chamber of Commerce. Although my personal strength is limited, the strength of the Chamber of Commerce should still satisfy you, sir." Mr. Aller was relieved upon hearing the young man's words, and his businesslike smile returned to his face.

"Alright, we need 2300 gold coins. Does the Merchant Guild seem sincere?"

"This is impossible, sir! Even if I sold all three cartloads of hides, I couldn't buy that many!"

Arle slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage: "You open your gaping maw, but I can't even fill the gaps between your teeth! Lock this poor merchant in jail!"

"Hey, don't get agitated. I know your goods can sell for that much, others can't. Having the Lowe Trading Company's logo makes it possible." The young man gestured to stop the guards from physically warning Ale.

"However, we are not devils, and we will not let you lose all your money with interest. We have another plan to show you our sincerity."

"Then please stop joking, sir! Please get to the point!"

"We need you to purchase something for us in Valois." The young man handed Mr. Aller a set of simple drawings depicting a part, with the dimensions and material marked on the three views.

"We need five sets of this part. As long as you have qualified parts, we can trade according to your price. How about it, Mr. Aller? Rather, we are showing you our sincerity."

"This is something the kingdom has banned from selling to the empire, isn't it?"

"Otherwise, why would we ask you for this small favor? Accept it, make a deal with us, and you can become a subject of the king tomorrow, and you can continue to be a citizen of the empire whenever you want."

If we cannot achieve this, the Empire's gates will no longer be open to you, and we will reserve the right, on behalf of the Imperial Army, to pursue legal action against your Chamber of Commerce.

If Rorschach were standing nearby, he would only shake his head at Mr. Aller. The drawing should be a pressure valve—in Rorschach's previous life, it was a privately manufactured item, and buying it would get you invited for tea.

Three steam engines imported from the Holy Kingdom burned out during a test at Carnival Night. Since the Holy Kingdom restricted the export of steam engines and related parts, the youth chose to have various merchant guilds transport them in piecemeal.

"Sir, I appreciate your sincerity, so of course I accept." Ale took the blueprints and put them into the pocket inside his clothes.

Rorschach was unaware that his employer had suffered such a calamity. On his way back to the prison, he encountered Unuk, the resident mage, who was waiting at the gate of the fortress.

"I heard from the captain that you went out. I didn't think you would abandon your employer and teammates and run away. Sure enough, I found you."

"Mr. Unuk was waiting for me?"

"I didn't wait long. I wasn't sure if you'd go back to the hotel, so I decided to meet you here."

Unuk and Rosya walked side by side into the fortress. The guards bowed to the resident mage, and Unuk nodded in response.

"Just in time, I needed to submit my report on last night's events to the garrison mage. I really have to thank you; you caught a big fish for us with a single slap."

Unuk explained, "The flying man was wearing a mask, and when we took it off, we found out he was the son of the city's governor."

I don't drink, and I can't stand putting on a show with those clueless bastards, so I ran away. Thank goodness.

"Your Excellency, are those noble merchants the masterminds behind this incident? Are they all Chris's secret followers?"

"What's this talk of belief or not?" Unuk wasn't particularly interested in the true God they believed in. "They're just taking advantage of their position between the two countries, using the guise of God to start anew within the Empire. Anyway, that's what the Holy Kingdom and Istani are happy to see. So many merchants come and go; they can collect their own money and spend it themselves, without sharing with His Majesty the Emperor. Isn't that great?"

"The troops stationed in the city are truly driven by greed."

"So the name of the gods is very important, huh? They even fantasized about Valois intervening, but unfortunately, the era of the gods ended long ago!"

"What happened that caused the rain and the magic in the environment to disappear?"

Unuk's expression turned serious for the first time: "Master Rorschach, this is a confidential matter, I'm sorry I can't say, I'm not entirely sure myself."

His tone softened: "Anyway, I want to thank you, Master Luo Xia. Here's a small gift for you, the result of my practice."

"You can sell it if you don't need it, although I'd be a little sad if you did," Unuk joked.

"That's where your companions are imprisoned. Farewell!" With that, he tossed a roll of parchment aside and disappeared around the corner of the castle.

"Thank you. What's this?" Rorschach unfolded the parchment; it was yet another study scroll: [Frozen Ray]

He was somewhat surprised; the resident monk had always been quite friendly to him, and now he was even giving him a study scroll. Instead of activating it right there, Luo Xia first put it into his storage ring.

Continuing deeper into the fortress, they happened to run into the haggard Mr. Aller outside the door of the large room, who was being carried back by two soldiers.

"We can continue our journey tonight and leave this wretched city. Before that, please allow me to take a nap." Mr. Aller unusually suggested taking a nap and lay down on the haystack.

After the incident in Andorella, the convoy finally continued on its way.

After being "released from prison," Tasia bid farewell to the caravan and continued to travel by car to the port city of the Holy Kingdom in order to board a ship and cross the strait to the island kingdom of Ishtar to study.

"Next, we'll be entering the Holy Kingdom. Valois has a strong religious atmosphere, so we'd better be careful with our words and actions. We've already encountered enough trouble in the Empire," Mr. Aller couldn't help but sigh. "Fortunately, we have the goods and the people, so we'll eventually reach our destination."

Then Mr. Aller hesitated for a moment: "Miss Hill, you'd better put on your hood and cover your elven features, and Mr. Singlev would be better off not speaking. I mean no harm, it's just the way things are in the Holy Kingdom, and I hope you can understand."

Hill nodded, while Singhlev patted the wine jug at his waist: "Boss, you underestimate me! I've not only been to the Holy Kingdom, but I've also befriended a fat monk!" He untied the jug and held it high: "The better the wine, the stronger the friendship! Witnessed by the Dwarf King and the Hero King of Man!"

A chestnut-brown, fluffy head popped out from the nearest carriage: "Senior, who is the King of Heroes?"

"Don't you study mythology and history in the Forest Tower? Sigh, this is a story about the god of wisdom taking the blame, 2 BC in the Old Imperial Calendar."

The caravan had been traveling for several days. Theoretically, leaving Andorella meant crossing the Empire's borders, but the villages and towns they passed through were still under the Empire's jurisdiction.

On this day, the scenery and the road had not changed much, but a small monastery appeared in the distance, and the group saw a pair of fully armored knights in white robes walking towards them.

Mr. Ale gestured for the entire convoy to stop: "Holy Knights of the God of Order. Gentlemen, we are now undoubtedly in the Holy Kingdom."

(End of this chapter)